PowerBook Explosion Prompts Office Evacuation

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PowerBook Explosion Prompts Office Evacuation

A London IT manager played the role of firefighter Wednesday when a PowerBook in his office exploded in flames.

"I went to get a fire extinguisher and was just getting ready to put out the fire when all of a sudden it went 'Bang!'" he told Inquirer. "Suddenly flames flew up about six foot in the air and there were sparks flying everywhere."

The company requested to remain anonymous. "Steven," the IT manager, said he told the staff to evacuate when he saw smoke coming out of the battery. After it exploded and he saw the flames hit the ceiling, Steven set off the fire alarm. Then, a fire marshall arrived and sprayed the flaming laptop with a fire extinguisher.

Officials are investigating the battery. The PowerBook is believed to be three to four years old.

Usually when gadgets explode, faulty battery cells are the root of the problem. Sony was under major scrutiny in 2006 when some of its overheating laptop batteries resulted in a recall of 9.6 million notebook batteries worldwide.